Mistress of Ice
by irith locke
Summary: Team Galactic has fallen with Rocket, Aqua and Magma. But there has been another behind the scenes the whole time: Team Blizzard. Their powerful young leader has hatched a bold plan to seize power, but has she gotten in over her head?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One:

Hailey was a seventeen-year-old Pokemon Trainer in the Sinnoh region. She was of average height, with platinum-blonde hair and a pale complexion. Her eyes were an icy blue-gray. Everything about her radiated cold, or so it seemed; no one was ever surprised to know she was from Snowpoint City. Of course, she wasn't much one for telling other people her personal history. Rail-thin, she looked as if a strong breeze could knock her over. People passing her in the street would think she was no threat.

How very wrong they were. She was the leader of Team Blizzard, the most powerful organization of criminal Pokemon Trainers in the world. She had started the organization four years ago, soon before the end of her main career as a Pokemon Trainer. Not that she didn't train Pokemon anymore- her Froslass, Empoleon, Weavile, Gallade, Glaceon, and Abomasnow were still used on a regular basis- but her own skills were rarely needed. "The truly powerful leaders do not tip their hands," she would often say. "Why should I reveal my own abilities and resources when less conspicuous agents can get the job done?"

Now, Hailey sat at her desk, very composed as she listened intently to the news her explorer brought. The white-clad man in question, though nearly a foot taller than the teenage girl before him, was squirming uncomfortably under her piercing gaze. Hailey knew this and relished it.

"An unknown writing system on the walls, you say?" she inquired, trying to keep her voice down in her excitement.

"Yes. It seems to be composed of a kind of dots. There are multiple rock mounds with this writing on them. I could not recognize it at all." The man seemed to be eyeing Hailey's Gallade warily, as it was leering at him from her side.

"Good work, John. You may find a promotion on your hands. I will be sending a team soon to investigate this discovery more thoroughly. You may go."

"Thank you, ma'am," John replied quickly, and with a slight bow, he left the room. The speed at which he ran made Hailey guess he was not too intent on being around her Gallade for a length of time longer than he had to.

Hailey leaned back in her chair, contemplating this news. A cave deep under the ocean, that was obviously ancient in origin; it sounded too good to be true. It seemed so much like a lead on the locations of the Legendary Golems. She would be going herself to investigate, she had already decided.

"The answers are soon to be found," she said quietly, to no one in particular.

***

Hailey was impatiently waiting at the Snowpoint docks, with three white-clad Blizzard Grunts and a Lieutenant standing beside her. The final member of the expedition was running late.

"I swear, if this idiot isn't here in the next two minutes, I'm taking my chances and leaving without him…" Hailey grumbled.

The others, aware of many of their leader's nuances, knew their place and kept quiet. When things took longer than she wanted, people who spoke tended to end up demoted or hurt.

As the seconds ticked by, the group prepared to leave. Suddenly, however, a tall, thin man with curly brown hair rushed over, carrying a briefcase.

"Sorry I'm late," he panted. "I was just gathering up all the notes I had."

The group held their breath as Hailey glared at him. The man promptly seemed to shrink in fear. People that angered the boss rarely had happy times ahead of them. It was a slightly odd sight; a group of adults seemingly cowering in fear of a weak-looking teenager.

"Be faster in the future. I won't punish you today. We need to go." There was an audible release of breath at her words.

The group walked silently to the edge of the pier, where a sleek silver boat awaited them. It was fairly large, containing eight fairly roomy cabins. Needless to say, Hailey took the captain's quarters as soon as they boarded Blizzard's private boat.

They were gone in minutes, the boat's top-of-the-line motor propelling them southward at great speed. All was silent except for the thrumming of the large motor and the sound of the boat slicing through the frigid seas. Hailey was sitting on the observation deck in the boat's central tower, her gaze strictly forward. She could not deny her impatience, but she also knew that impatience got her nowhere. It wasn't as if anyone else was after the same thing she was, after all.

The Lieutenant that had come opened the door to the observation deck silently, walking up behind his leader.

"We should arrive in the Hoenn command center in two days," he said in a colorless voice.

"Very well, Nathan. You may go." Hailey hadn't moved her gaze from the horizon.

"Yes, mistress," he said politely, leaving as quietly as he came.

***

It was very quiet for the rest of the journey. Hailey's presence silenced talk anywhere she went; she was simply that type of person. But even at night, the other passengers didn't talk much. Blizzard members never did. It didn't pay to get attached to anyone. People had _died_ on missions. Blizzard's operations were far more dangerous than anything Team Rocket or any of the others ever did.

Hailey, meanwhile, was restless, often pacing through her cabin, thinking. Not necessarily about the mission, either. The simply act of using her mind calmed Hailey's nerves. For whatever she tried to convince her followers of, the normally cool and collected teenager was nervous, and she knew it.

It was with great relief when the boat arrived at Shoal Cave soon after sunset two days after the departure from Snowpoint. They walked up the rough path to the base entrance in absolute silence, partly of fatigue and partly because of the cold presence of Hailey.

As the group approached the cave entrance, two white-suited Blizzard members stepped out of the shadows, Pokéballs in hand. As soon as their eyes rested upon Hailey, however, they hastily stowed the Pokéballs on their belts, looking slightly embarrassed.

Hailey's mouth twitched in slight amusement, but she did not comment. She greeted the guards with a simple "Hello," before walking through the cave entrance.

As soon as they entered, large overhead lights turned on, illuminating a long, narrow passageway hewn from the rock. A solid steel door lay at the end. Hailey did not pause at the sudden activation of the lights, but kept walking steadily towards the door.

When she got to the door, she pulled an access card out of her pocket and slipped it into the slot by the door, allowing the thick metal door to slide open with a hiss. Hailey walked in, the rest of the group close behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

The Hoenn Command Center for Team Blizzard was a very modern facility; the main chamber was twenty feet tall and twice as long, all covered in various steel devices. These were predominantly computers and Pokémon storage vessels. Multiple doors were set in the walls, leading to more secure areas and sleeping quarters.

Jonathan, a red-haired man in his thirties, was the Regional Executive for Team Blizzard in Hoenn. The moment Hailey walked into Command Central, he walked up with as wide a smile as he dared.

"Leader Hailey! What a pleasant surprise! We were not prepared for your arrival, so luxury is in short supply, I'm afraid…" He spoke deliberately; Hailey guessed this was so he did not accidentally say something to offend her.

"It is no matter, Jonathan. We're only briefly stopping by, for supplies. A private room for a brief recuperation period would be much appreciated, though."

If Jonathan was surprised at all, he did not show it. "Yes, Leader. Take the primary conference room; I believe you remember where it is?"

"Indeed. Also, see to it that my boat is refueled completely. After you have tended to that, come to the conference room, or send someone else that has full system access."

"It will be done." Jonathan left with a bow, and began issuing orders to various Blizzard workers.

Satisfied, Hailey led her small force through another sliding metal door, up a number of ramps, and finally into the conference room. The room in question was about twenty to thirty feet long, perhaps ten wide, with a low ceiling. The walls were covered in computer monitors, all of which were currently blank.

A long table covered in polished black marble occupied the majority of the room; a dozen seats, fixed into the ground, lay on each side of it. A larger, high-backed chair was placed at the head of the table on the opposite side of the room from which Hailey and the others entered. A small, separate desk was behind this chair, at the right distance for someone sitting in the large chair to work at if they spun the chair 180 degrees.

Hailey, of course, immediately went towards the chair at the head of the table and sat down in it, settling in instantly. The others hesitantly sat down in other chairs, all of them at least keeping one empty chair in between themselves and Hailey.

Absolute silence pervaded the room. Much to Hailey's amusement, she found her companions looking anywhere but at her. She merely leaned back in her chair and waited impatiently for Jonathan to arrive.

Several silent minutes later, the door slid open with a hiss, heralding the arrival of Jonathan. He stepped through the entryway, allowing the door to shut. With a slight bow to Hailey, he walked over to the small desk.

"So, how can I assist you today, Leader?" Jonathan inquired as he placed an I.D. card into a small slot in the wall. A monitor right above the desk turned on, displaying a menu screen.

"I need some Pokemon that can take transport my group and I through the water past Pacifidlog. They need to have the HM Dive taught to them, as well."

"I see. It just so happens that we just got a new batch of Wailord yesterday, would that be to your liking?" Jonathan was touching options on the screen, reaching a long list of Pokemon.

"Wailord are fine. Give us three or so." Hailey was tapping the desk impatiently.

"Very well," Jonathan answered. He pressed a few final spots, and three Pokéballs materialized in small indentations on the desk. Hailey deftly picked them up.

"Here, catch," she called, tossing one at each Grunt in turn. "Thank you, Jonathan. We'll be on our way now, as soon as the boat is ready."

The others nodded and sat back down, waiting patiently. Hailey simply leaned back in her chair and twiddled her thumbs idly. Jonathan turned off the computer and left the room in a hurry, obviously not very keen on staying in the same room as Hailey when there was a danger of her getting impatient.

About fifteen minutes later, a Lieutenant came up to the room, slightly out of breath. The cold silence was broken as he announced, "Your boat is ready, Leader Hailey."

Hailey gave a curt nod and motioned for the others to come with her. In absolute silence, they walked through the militaristic environment of the base, until they finally came out in small harbor in a cave that opened up onto the open ocean. The boat was waiting for them in the slightly icy water. No one dawdled going up onto the ship.

Within five minutes, the ship was cutting through the seas. The journey was silent, but unlike the last one, there was an air of anticipation and excitement. Hailey mostly stayed in her cabin, sleeping. She was not inclined to laziness, but she wanted her mind to be fully rested. An unknown language and writing system demanding her entire intellect. The others often stayed in their own cabins, preparing themselves in their own ways.

***

After about a day, the ship docked at a secret cave near Pacifidlog. Hailey took her six main Pokemon, along with the three Wailord, and disembarked. She was dressed identically to the others: the standard white uniform of Team Blizzard. She did not want to attract unwanted attention to herself, and she was confident the others knew who she was.

"Right, now," she said once everyone was off the ship. "Elizabeth, you will stay and guard the ship as planned. Look out towards the entrance, if you will. I do recall when you watched the wrong end of a cave, and that police Trainer found the ship. He found a lot of incriminating files, and Blizzard was almost revealed to law enforcement, but luckily for you, the group you were accompanying returned and had the sense to kill the fool. You're exceedingly lucky I wasn't there for that. Now, if the same thing happens again, you'll be joining the cop at the bottom of the ocean. Are we clear?"

The raven-haired Grunt nodded fearfully, eyes wide. She didn't know Hailey knew about that incident. Hailey had to suppress a grin at this reaction, knowing that she was not expected to know this. She made it a policy to find out incriminating history of her members; she relished the look of terror on their faces. Besides, it helped keep them in line. "Fear is the best creator of discipline and loyalty," that was her rationale.

Now, she led the small group to the edge of the cave and tossed the three Pokeballs. "Well, don't just stand there, we have something to do. I'll be on the middle one. Nathan, you and Hannah will be with me. Gregory and Robert, accompany our scholarly friend. The rest of you will go on the last Wailord with John, and he will lead us to the spot. Prepare to make the Wailords Dive quickly. If law enforcement actually is present somewhere, we Dive, no questions asked. Do not wait for my signal. Am I clear on all that?"

There was a general murmur of assent.

"Good. In the event of blatant offensive action against any of our group, retaliate at full capacity. Let's go." She gracefully jumped onto the center Wailord, and everyone else hastily grouped together as per her orders. John immediately led the way through the salty water. Soon, they had reached the raging currents west of Pacifidlog, and were hurtling along, with no sign of anyone else. They kept steering to the south, following John. Hailey had left the control of her Wailord to Nathan, and was studying her surroundings, looking for other people.

Suddenly, water was all around her. A bubble of air remained around her head, and that of the others, but they were unmistakably underwater. Her temper briefly rose at the others for making the Wailord Dive without warning, but she held it in check. _After all, I wasn't paying attention_, she thought. _And it does no good to antagonize my forces at this point. _

The three great whale-like Pokemon slowly swam through a relatively narrow channel. As they went through, something off to the side caught Hailey's eye. A patch of something nearly the same color as the kelp and stone around them was swimming cautiously towards her. It came out into the open, showing itself to be a Pokemon.

"Relicanth," Hailey said quietly. "Might as well…" She pulled a Quick Ball from a pocket and hurled it at the fishlike Pokemon. It successfully captured the Relicanth and returned to Hailey.

The group went on undeterred. Eventually, they reached a large rock. Here John stopped, and motioned for them to ascend. The group quickly made their Pokemon surface.

Wherever they now were, it was pitch black. Hailey took a ball from her belt and sent out her Froslass.

"Use Flash," she said dryly, careful not to reveal any of the slight fear she had. She was normally confident because she was in control, and because she knew everything. Here, in this dark, isolated, unknown place, she was more or less just like everyone else. The newly lit area appeared to be some sort of cave. They had entered by a small pool, which, as far as she could tell, was the only entrance.

Her normal commanding demeanor now returning, she stepped off, and brought the Wailord back into their Pokeballs once everyone else had disembarked. The cavern they were in now was relatively small, but a large opening was in the wall, which no doubt led to a bigger area.

"You're going to lead again, John. Gregory, stay here and guard the entrance. Make as much noise as possible if someone enters. Let no one through this entrance. Now, let's go."

John walked purposefully through the hole in the wall, with Hailey and the rest close behind him as they walked down. Froslass was hovering at Hailey's side, lighting the area. The next cavern was much larger; many stone slabs were inside it, evenly spaced and symmetrical. Froslass' glow cast eerie shadows across the floor.

John strode quickly to a slab. "Come, Leader. Here is the writing I told you about. The scholar should come too."

Hailey came swiftly; the rest of them moved more hesitantly. The stone slab had a number of evenly spaced dots upon it, in groups so it seemed obvious there were multiple letters or words. Something about it seemed faintly familiar…

"I don't know what this is," the scientist said, frowning. "I know all the languages of ancient Hoennic peoples, and this is not one of them. This may have been a code in a military installation of more recent times."

"Don't be ridiculous, Blizzard knows everything the military has done in the last century," Hailey scoffed. "We have government-owned agencies infiltrated completely; the military is no exception. No, this is not modern…it's ancient, very ancient. I can feel it…don't you think so? I think we're the first people to set foot in here for centuries, maybe millennia. See how the stone is cracked? Anyway, this language seems familiar to me…do any of you have any idea?"

The group numbly shook their heads. Hailey started pacing, hands behind her back, staring at the floor. The scientist did not move at all; he seemed to have shrunk slightly under Hailey's rebuke. "I really have no idea," he whispered. "This hasn't been seen anywhere else in Hoenn, Sinnoh, or anywhere else I've been… I wouldn't know who else to contact to decipher this…what?" The last word had a note of fear in it, as Hailey had now stopped pacing and was glaring at the scientist, looking livid.

"IT'S GODDAMN BRAILLE, YOU IDIOT!" she bellowed. The scientist shrunk back even more. "Why do I even BOTHER with fools like you when I can do things MYSELF?" He opened his mouth slightly, then shut it tight.

"All right then," Hailey breathed. "It looks like the alphabet to me. Now we need to find something with…Braille…written on it, because obviously someone meant for this to be the translation tool…look around, all of you…"

In minutes, Nathan called from the end of the chamber. "Leader Hailey, I think there's something on the wall!"

She briskly ran over to him, the others following more slowly. "'Dig here', it says," said Hailey. "Who has a Pokemon that knows Dig?"

A girl no older than Hailey, with short, sleek brown hair, picked a Pokeball from her waist. "Here, I've got a Piloswine, it's got it."

"Thank you, Hannah," Hailey said. "You can do it, I have no need to command your Pokemon."

"Yes, Leader," she replied, tossing the Pokeball into the air, releasing the shaggy-haired Piloswine. "Use Dig over there!" The creature moved over to the spot with the writing and burrowed into the ground. As soon as it was entirely inside its hole, the cave rumbled and the wall with writing collapsed. Hailey squinted through the quickly settling dust and saw that there was another tunnel going down, about the same size as the one leading to this room.

"Right," she said briskly. "Robert, you can guard this entrance. The rest of us are going into the next chamber. No, Hannah, keep your Piloswine out, you never know when you might need it. I'll lead this time. Let's go."

This time, going down, the group seemed excited rather than scared. There was still fear, but plain curiosity had overwhelmed it. Hailey's eyes were wide and alert, her ears trained for the slightest sound of danger. She didn't succeed by taking chances. The air seemed to be getting thicker as they went down; it was apparent that the tunnel had been sealed for a very long time.

Finally, they arrived in the next chamber. It was much the same size as the last one, but there were seven stone slabs, arranged in a circle around the room, leaving a large open space in the center. Hailey picked up speed and walked into the center, one hand on the first Pokeball on her belt, which happened to be the Relicanth she caught on the way in.

More slowly now, she cautiously walked towards the largest slab, at the end of the chamber. With one had still on Relicanth's Pokeball, she touched the writing upon gently. "What does it-"

Before she could finish the sentence, the cavern shook all around them, more violently than before, and there was a blinding flash of light. The large slab cracked in multiple places, making the writing there illegible. Hailey looked around the room, alarmed.

"What was that?" asked Hannah, frightened.

"I don't know," Hailey answered, eyes narrowed. "But the writing's been obscured on all of these things, so there's nothing to do here. We should leave, and quickly. I would not be surprised if something happened on the surface…that was no small tremor. The cave may be unstable. _Move_."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

Hailey looked around alertly as the group surfaced together. Everything seemed calm around them, but that was not necessarily representative of the entire region; after all, ocean was all that was nearby. Almost as soon as they surfaced, however, a piercing, ringing sound shook them all out of the surreal feeling following the incident in the deep cavern. Hailey blinked and rummaged in her jacket to find her personal communicator. Only a few people had this number, and they were warned not to use it unless in case of something urgent.

"Hello?" she said, opening up the video screen with more than a little trepidation.

"Leader Hailey! Thank God; we tried calling you about three times already, but we couldn't get through. Something has happened." Johnathan was standing in the command room at the Hoenn base, and it seemed to be bustling with activity.

"I figured it might have," she answered. "What happened?"

"A major earthquake has rocked the Hoenn region," Johnathan said, glancing offscreen. "There is severe damage in most of the cities. Sootopolis has been mostly spared, as has Littleroot Town...but Slateport seems to be in ruins. But our satellites have picked up powerful, abnormal energy signatures in three spots in Hoenn. We are expecting a visual on the sites in under an hour."

"Good. Contact me with developments when you have them. Where are the three energy signatures?"

"The closest one to you is on Route 105, north of Dewford Town. The others are in the desert and on Route 120."

"I'll head for the one on Route 105, then. Send a small force if it can be spared; we'll meet them in Dewford. Send a small force to the other spots and secure them. I don't want interference."

"Erm…about that, Hailey…" Johnathan trailed away, looked intently at a spot away from the screen.

"_What_?" inquired Hailey sharply.

"It…er…appears that the government…is preparing to launch an expedition to Route 120…"

"We have contacts! Delay them until our forces can get there!"

"Leader, I'm not sure that's possible…"

"Do what you can; I'm investigating the Route 105 site. Send me the coordinates as soon as possible. I dearly hope nothing…unpleasant…has to befall you upon my return to base." Hailey terminated the connection.

"Things are happening; we must move swiftly. There are strong energy signatures in three locations throughout Hoenn. The closest one is at Route 105; we're heading there now. We'll stop in Dewford, maybe meet some reinforcements. Once we've gotten the coordinates, we'll continue on. We will not stop in Slateport for any reason; our intelligence is that it's been destroyed by the earthquake. Hopefully we'll move through quickly and make our way further. We can hijack a boat in their harbor to get to Dewford faster. We can't dawdle any longer. Go!"

They were now speeding along on their Wailord, the currents propelling them along nearly three times as fast as they would normally be going. As they went on, they saw a massive cloud of black smoke over what they knew to be Slateport. In about an hour and a half, they reached it.

The devastation was beyond what they could possibly have imagined. As far as Hailey could see, only a few scattered buildings still stood. Flames and smog filled the streets, restricting movement. People kept running out of the smoke clouds, screaming; often they were severely burned. Medical officials were waiting on the beach, but with limited resources. Black helicopters with the Republic of Hoenn seal on it were flying around; some were on the ground unloading supplies, while others were spraying water and flame retardant on the city. All in all, it seemed like a scene from the depths of hell.

Hailey ignored it and walked towards the other beach purposefully. The others displayed various reactions of shock and sorrow, but followed nonetheless. The scientist looked particularly distressed, but reluctantly followed Hailey.

A young woman, much of her clothing burned away and her face blackened with soot, ran to Hailey tugged on her arm. "Please, have you seen my son? He's seven, has red hair and freckles, I don't know where he is, can you help…?" 

Hailey responded with an incredibly vicious sneer, saying, "Do I _look_ like I'm here to help the likes of you? It is not my problem if you can't keep track of people!" Her cold voice dripped with contempt.

The woman's eyes filled with tears as she stepped back as if struck. "I'm…I'm sorry, you looked clean and all…so I thought you were here to help…I just want to find my family…my husband is gone too, he's tall and has black hair, have you seen him…?"

Hailey turned her head resolutely and continued on without another word, brushing the ash off her pristine white jacket as she went. The scientist almost made an apologetic sign, but thought better of it; others in the group were behind him and might sell him out to Hailey. He had only been involved with Team Blizzard for about a week, but he already knew to fear the Ice Mistress.

The docks were mostly in good shape when they reached them; but most boats were gone, apparently to transport people away from the city. However, there was one fast-looking boat volunteers were unloading relief supplies from. Hailey motioned the group to follow, and they ran to the ship. She took a Pokeball from her belt as they approached.

"GET AWAY!" she screeched, tossing the ball into the air to reveal an Abomasnow. As soon as the tree-like creature appeared, the air around them went frigid, shards of ice billowing in the sudden wind. Frost was forming on everyone's clothes and the wooden planks of the docks. The wind started blowing towards the city.

"MOVE AWAY FROM THE SHIP OR YOU WILL PAY!" she cried, her tightly clenched fist in the air.

There were about half a dozen volunteers there. Most looked uncertain and glanced to one of them in unison; a tall, muscular, man with spiky black hair. Hailey guessed he was the leader.

"We will not give up our effort to help people to help you with whatever agenda you may have." He spoke with stern confidence, and his hand rested on one of the six Pokeballs on his belt.

"It is unwise to resist," Hailey said, one eyebrow raised in apparent amusement. "You don't know who you're dealing with."

"Too bad," the man replied, snarling. "Go, Ninetales!" He hurled the Pokeball into the air. A foxlike creature, with yellow fur and nine thick tails, appeared on the docks, growling at the white and green Abomasnow.

"Use Flamethrower!" he yelled. A jet of red-hot flames spewed from the maw of Ninetales, aimed straight at Abomasnow.

"Empoleon, go!" cried Hailey, tossing a second Pokeball. A blue and black Pokemon like a penguin with a golden trident on its face appeared, waving its wings threateningly. "Abomasnow, use Protect!" An opaque barrier formed in front of the Pokemon in question, absorbing the flames sent out by Ninetales.

"You cheat!" cried the black-haired man, pulling out another Pokeball. "Roserade, go!"

Hailey smirked. "Empoleon, use Water Pulse against Ninetales! Abomasnow, use Blizzard!" A thick ball of water appeared between Empoleon's flippers and shot straight at Ninetales, knocking it out it one hit. Moments later, a ferocious gale of ice and snow consumed the small battlefield, making the flowers on Roserade's arm wilt and the Pokemon topple over, defeated.

"Freeze the obstacles," Hailey barked. Empoleon caused a wave of water to wash over the volunteers; immediately afterwards, Abomasnow sent a blast of freezing wind towards them, freezing them solid.

"Good work," she said calmly, returning them to their Pokeballs. "Now," she went on, turning to her followers. "Gather up their bodies and leave them on the dock; they won't be frozen long. We need to go. QUICKLY!" The group scrambled into action, haphazardly throwing the frozen people overboard. Nathan moved into the captain's room and hotwired the boat. The engine thrummed into life.

Within five minutes of the defeat of the volunteers, they were off, ripping through the waves at breakneck speeds. Nathan was steering the ship, Hailey standing over his shoulder. He glanced at the fuel gauge. "Leader," he began nervously, "we're kind of low on fuel."

"Can we get to Dewford?" Hailey's hand was on the top of the tall captain's chair, and now it gripped down on the black leather, her knuckles whitening.

"I think so, but we'll need a new boat to go the rest of the way."

"Did we have a problem getting this one?"

"Well, no, but it might draw attention if people in white suits were stealing boats across Hoenn. We don't need the law coming down at a time like this. It's obvious that important things are happening, and we can't afford distractions." Nathan blinked, then turned back to the ship.

Hailey raised an eyebrow, slightly impressed. "Well, I'm glad you can think for yourself," she responded, "but I was under the impression we could buy fuel."

Nathan shrugged, not looking away from the ocean. "Under the circumstances, I'm not sure it'll be readily available. We need to be prepared for anything."

"I'm in charge here, Nathan, don't you forget it. We will be fine. Stay on course."

****

They arrived at Dewford a few hours later, and were met with a damaged city. However, most buildings still stood, except the ones right by the coast, which had been destroyed in a raging surge of water. The Pokemon Center and other important buildings were still up and running, however, and it was helping out Slateport.

They arrived at the docks and moved quickly. A group of three bought a fuel cell and returned to the ship, while Hailey went to the Pokemon Center and made a few changes to the selection of Pokemon she was carrying. A platoon of six Blizzard Trainers joined her there, bowing respectfully and falling in step behind her without a word. They boarded the boat again and waiting for departure.

She glanced at her communicator, looking at the image of the site on Route 105. It was a large stone formation that now had an opening, and the other sites were almost identical. She was incredibly curious…she was convinced that the Golems were in the three caves. But if the government took the one on Route 120…she couldn't imagine it. Even with her influence, she wasn't sure she could take back something as powerful as the Golems were reported to be. The government wouldn't let it out of their sight.

She looked up, brushing her blond hair out of her face. They were moving again, the boat moving even faster than before. The coordinates of the site had been plugged into the ship's onboard computer, so she had no reason to stay in the control room. Instead, she was on the roof of the room, looking out to sea. The sun was setting, casting beautiful shades of purple, orange and red across the slightly cloud-stained sky.

"How utterly unremarkable," she said to the world at large. "As if they haven't had that in every romance movie ever made."

*****

"Under no circumstances whatsoever," Hailey said, walking back and forth along the beach in front of the new cave, "are you to retreat without my orders. If I die, feel free to flee like foolish cowards you are. It makes no difference to me. Now, Robert, guard the entrance. Gregory, guard the boat. The rest of you will follow me. Come on."

The cave entrance was a downward tunnel, just like in the secret cavern. Hailey released her Froslass to light their path again. The air seemed to get colder as they went down; Hailey tried to dismiss this as the fact that night had fallen. _If it's the Golem of Ice, we may be in trouble_, part of her mind told her.

They finally arrived in a large antechamber, with another entrance, just like in the other cave. The group assembled in the center, unconsciously close together. Even Hailey stayed closer to the others than she normally would have.

"Stay here, John," she ordered, but the ordinary sharpness to her voice was gone. Her breath was visible in the frigid air. There was no denying it; natural cold was not like this. She had no real precedent or experience in this. She was plunging blindly into a cave, likely with a very ancient Pokemon of great power within. It was enough to make her scared. More scared than she'd ever been. Her knees weren't shaking with cold.

"Follow," she muttered, her voice incredibly quiet. It was enough, though; the silence of the cave was more than normal silence. Normal silence was filled with sound. This silence seemed to absorb any noise.

The group's footsteps echoed along the tunnel as the slowly advanced. Patches of frost were visible on the walls now, becoming more common as they went deeper. Hailey almost told the others to watch their step, but her fear was constricting her own voice now.

Finally, they saw the bottom. The floor there was covered in ice, and Hailey could swear the cold was starting to form frost on her eyes now; causing her to blink more often. She nodded briefly to the others and stepped into the chamber.

She saw a huge thing of bluish ice, with sharp, clearly defined edges; it looked like a statue, not anything that was alive. It took her a moment to realize that the Golem of Ice was already moving.

"WATCH OUT!" cried a voice from her right. She whipped her head to the right and saw a blur of red-orange speeding towards her, a beam of energy from the Golem following it. A man wearing a warm coat and thick goggles was running too, closer to the edge of the room.

The blur hit her and she fell to the ground.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four:

"DAMMIT, ARCANINE, LOOK WHERE IN THE HELL YOU'RE GOING WHEN YOU'RE RUNNING THAT FAST!" roared the man in goggles.

The flame-colored blur had stopped after hitting Hailey. It was very similar to a dog; except with red-orange fur and black stripes. It shook its head violently, shaking off the impact.

The man now reached Hailey and extended an arm to her. "Sorry, the idiot thing can't use its own eyes. I'll help you up."

Hailey glowered at him, and reluctantly gripped his hand without a word of thanks. She spun determinedly towards the icy behemoth before her.

"What is it?" she asked tersely, not shifting her gaze from it as it slowly turned towards them.

"Get back into the tunnel first," the man breathed, also staring at the creature. "NOW!"

Hailey didn't like taking orders from anyone, but her need for knowledge surpassed her pride for the moment. She fled into the tunnel with the others.

The group huddled around the man with goggles a little way up the tunnel, far enough to be out of the ice giant's sight. This was slightly questionable, though; Hailey was not aware of it having eyes.

"I ask again. What is that thing, exactly?" Hailey tapped her foot, hoping it would appear to be impatience, even though it was really more like nervousness.

"It is Regice, the Golem of Ice," the man replied with a sense of grandeur. Hailey noticed a thick brown beard on him for the first time. "There are three Legendary Golems; ice, steel, and rock. They-"

"I know about the three Golems," Hailey interrupted irritably. "Where do you get the name Regice from?"

"You don't know?" he asked, incredulously.

"No," Hailey said flatly.

"Well, I figured anyone who knew about the Golems knew their names. The researching community that believes the existence of the Golems long ago agreed that they would be named 'Regi' followed by their element. So we have Regice, Registeel, and Regirock."

"Well, I don't often lurk in such circles. I've been doing independent research."

"Fair enough," the man said with a shrug. "Are you people a scientific group? I'm sorry I don't recognize you."

"You could say we're a scientific group," Hailey said hesitantly. "But we don't put our name out there very much. We've made keeping a low profile a policy. I've found that the press restricts your success. Better to keep a secretive, streamlined organization."

"I see. Well, do you want to try and help to capture Regice? My colleagues will give you partial credit for it. This stuff is huge; it'll bring in big grants."

Hailey blinked and looked straight at him, thinking fast. "Sure," she said. "I want to know more about your group, though. What's it called? How big is it?"

"We are the Discovery Society, with over one hundred active members throughout Kanto-Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. Various groups have broken off from us; Maxie and Archie were quite high-up before breaking off to form Teams Magma and Aqua. They got into some deep stuff a few years back, I don't know if you remember…?"

"Yes, I remember the weather scare," Hailey answered. "So you guys must be the cream of the crop for Legendary Pokemon Research. Do you have people going into the other two Golems' lairs?"

"What other lairs?" asked the man.

Hailey wanted to slam her foot in a door. _Of course he doesn't know about the others already,_ she thought._ He was probably just in the area…he doesn't know what the earthquake did. _

"I just assumed they had similar places of residence," Hailey told him quickly. "I wondered, naturally, if your research group knew where they were, since you were here."

"No," the man said. "I was investigating around Petalburg when the earthquake hit, and I decided to head to Dewford, then Slateport; the Discovery Society is based there. I saw the new cave on the way, though, and decided to come on in."

"All right," Hailey said, relieved that she hadn't blown her cover. "Let's go and get Regice.

"Team!" she barked suddenly, causing the Blizzard members to stand up straight and pay attention. "Get out anything good against Ice-types. Regice will be powerful, so get out of the way instead of staying for more damage, no matter what the circumstance. Spread out and surround it; don't be idiots and clump together where it can put all its attacks in one place. Move out on three…one…"

"Wait just a minute-" the man began

"Two…"

"Don't I have some input?" he asked.

"THREE!"

The small group charged out into the icy cavern, tossing Pokeballs into the air, releasing various Pokemon. Hailey released her Magmortar that she had withdrawn in Dewford. The Pokemon was humanoid, if rather obese, but looked as if it was composed of pure fire, with cannon-like appendages in place of arms.

"USE FLAMETHROWER!" screamed Hailey. Magmortar aimed its arms at Regice and let loose a torrent of red-hot fire from each, which hit the creature's icy body, lapping over the surface with little apparent damage.

To Hailey's right, the researcher's Arcanine had created an aura of flame around its body, and was charging at Regice, creating what looked like small dents. Myriad other Pokemon were launching flaming attacks at Regice, throwing rocks, or striking it with either steel or powerful physical attacks. The frigid Pokemon turned to a Rhydon launching boulders at it and blasted it with a blue-white beam, which knocked Rhydon over, covered in frost.

As time went on, the group became more and more coordinated. A constant stream of flame now struck Regice from every angle, and the Golem of Ice seemed to be tiring. Its Ice Beams and other attacks were becoming feeble. The ice around the room was slowly melting away; it was more slush than the ice from earlier.

Convinced that it was now weak enough to capture, Hailey took a yellow-and-black Ultra Ball from her jacket and hurled it at Regice. There was a flash of light, and Regice was gone, leaving a wobbling Ultra Ball on the floor. It was only a moment before it burst open once more, bringing Regice back into the room. Hailey scowled and sent out Froslass.

"Use Hypnosis!" she said, pointing at Regice. Froslass sent a number of multicolored rays at Regice, who slumped to the floor.

The researcher stuck a hand into his coat and pulled out a white and black Pokeball with a red stripe on top and threw it at the now sleeping Regice. There was another flash and Regice was contained in the ball. It wobbled violently for about ten seconds; everyone held their breath.

The ball stopped. Hailey grimaced slightly at the fact that an outsider had caught Regice, but kept her composure. "Excellent," she said dryly. "Let's go back out. I'm afraid I never got your name…?"

"Todd," he said, pulling his goggles off. "And you?"

"Hailey," she replied racking her brains for anyone she had heard of named Todd. "Anyway, I've got a boat docked up on the surface. I can take you to our headquarters."

"I'm not sure I need to go with you. I should probably head to Slateport."

"We passed through Slateport on the way here, I'm sure that your colleagues will be fine. On the other hand, their facilities are probably too severely damaged to examine Regice properly. My group's headquarters are strongly constructed in a more remote location. Come with us."

Todd hesitated, then let out a sigh. "Fine. Where are we bound?"

"We're based up north, but we have smaller facilities near Dewford. Just follow us on board."

Hailey walked quickly up the tunnels; eager to get going. She needed to get in contact with headquarters and find out the status of the other two Golems. By now, anything could have happened to them. The group was tense and silent; they didn't know Hailey's intentions.

Finally, they stepped out onto the beach, taking in the salty sea air. The boat was still there, bobbing slightly in the surf. Hailey nodded and had all of them board, leading Todd down into a spacious cabin at the bottom. She was surprised the stolen boat was so accommodating. Hailey posted two guards at the end of the hall Todd's room was in. After making sure he was trapped, she went up to the control room.

"Take us to the Abandoned Ship, quickly. We have no time to lose. Stop in Dewford for fuel if need be, but otherwise we can't stop." Nathan nodded in response, his blue eyes betraying no emotion.

The trip was noisier than usual; Todd went around the ship and talked to people. However, Hailey told him that the members were not allowed to talk about their work to outsiders, to cover the fact that Team Blizzard wasn't made up of scientists. Normal chat was all they could do with Todd.

She discussed things at length with him, however, saying that as a high-ranking official, she was allowed to follow her own judgment. She was careful not to reveal that she led all of Team Blizzard. In fact, she didn't tell him the name Team Blizzard at all.

Just as the sun started to rise above the horizon, the boat arrived at the Abandoned Ship. The boat's sleek white hull had multiple holes, and it was dashed up against a large rock. The white paint was coming off in multiple places, and metal elements were rusting away.

"This is your facility?" Todd asked skeptically, eyeing the decaying ship.

"It's perfectly safe inside, and very advanced. The ship is just good camouflage. Follow me." She stepped off the boat onto a small chunk of rubble leading up to a large hole in the ship's hull. Todd stepped off behind her; he had left his warm coat on board, and was now wearing a nice vest and slacks that were in his pack. Only one Blizzard member was left on board.

"You have Regice, I assume?" Hailey inquired.

"Yes, the ball is in my pocket."

"Good. Follow me and watch your step." Hailey walked into the ship, the group close behind her. She led them confidently down a large stairway, her eyes scanning the ship floor for weak points. She could not afford a personal injury now.

The rusty door to a cabin creaked open as Hailey led them in. A large area of the floor had caved in, leaving a hole that covered over half the room. The hole was filled with water and appeared to open up into a large area under the floor.

"You'll have to excuse me, but your Pokemon must be left here for security purposes. Our chairman is very obsessive about security. I'll have to carry Regice." Hailey shrugged apologetically.

"Why are we in here?" Todd asked suspiciously.

"The entrance is past this water. We Dive through here and come out another entrance. I'll let you ride with me," she said, pulling a Pokeball from her belt. "Empoleon, go!"

The large penguinesque Pokemon materialized, staring alertly at Hailey. "All right now, Todd, give your Pokemon to me. I'll take Regice, too." Todd handed her his belt and the Timer Ball with great care. She tucked it into a pocket inside her jacket and held the belt in her hand. "Empoleon, use Dive. Todd and I will be riding." The Pokemon nodded and got into the water. Hailey and Todd got on, ready to go. "The rest of you, follow."

They went down into the warm water of the room, Empoleon slowly swimming through the submerged area of the boat. Eventually, the Pokemon propelled them upwards, arriving in a large area with more cabins. Hailey and Todd climbed out of the water, followed by the Blizzard members.

Hailey pulled another Pokeball from her belt and tossed it in the air. "Glaceon," she said, with a hint of excitement in her voice. Glaceon was fairly small, and vaguely catlike, but its fur was an icy blue, and light reflected off of it like it would off ice. Its eyes were a cold, deep blue, and small ice patches appeared under its paws.

"Is that necessary?" asked Todd, wary. He was looking around the very empty room. "And I don't see anything like a research facility here."

"It's in the room, of course," said Hailey, rolling her eyes dramatically. "Right in here." She pointed to a yellow-painted door and walked up to it, opening it up. The door was in the way of Todd's view of the room. "You first," she continued, holding the door and gesturing inside.

Todd walked around and into the room. A Blizzard member came up behind him and shoved him into the room with great force. Todd whirled about, angrily.

"Do you think you can just push me around, you-"

"Use Sheer Cold, Glaceon!" Hailey screeched, pointing at Todd in the room and tossing in his belt of Pokeballs. Glaceon's fur stood on end like ice needles and there was a flash of blue light. The entire room was frozen solid, with frost on the outside of the doorway. Todd was frozen in position in the center of the ice, face filled with rage and stepping towards them.

"Shut the door," Hailey ordered, the side of her mouth twitching. Two muscular Blizzard members shoved the door back into position. "Glaceon, use Ice Beam around the edge." A beam of blue-white light burst from Glaceon's mouth, creating a seal of ice around the door.

"Did we have to get rid of him that way?" asked Nathan. "Can't we just kill them normally every once in a while?"

"I don't want bodies found, idiot," Hailey answered, glaring at him. "There are investigations then. If we took him to headquarters, he could have contacted someone en route. This is inexplicable if he's found. Frozen to death? Who does that?"

"Well, we do, Leader. Fairly often."

"Yes, but they're vastly different situations. Generally they're frozen in icy places, or we keep them at base. We don't look like serial killers. Get over it. Now let's get out of here. I need to talk to Johnathan and find out what the hell is going on with Regirock and Registeel."

*****

"Move, _faster_!" hissed Hailey. The group was sneaking through Rustboro City in the dead of night. Hailey had forced them to stay in the alleys, away from city lights. The boat had been left at the Petalburg docks, and they had taken all day getting through the Petalburg woods, only arriving in the bustling metropolis of Rustboro around midnight.

"We haven't slept in about twenty hours," Nathan whispered back, right behind her.

"You've been through worse before Nathan, so shut the hell up," she said back. "And you should stop questioning me so much. You're just complaining and not contributing. Lieutenants aren't supposed to be so immature."

Hailey peered around a corner. The main street was empty before them, but bright street lights shone down everywhere. Hailey didn't like the visibility, but it was the only way out of the city.

"As soon as I go, follow, but please, don't make noise. I can't afford delays. We need to reach Rusturf Tunnel by sunrise. We'll rest up in a secret area I know about during the day, and then continue on to the Mauville base." She then took a deep breath and sprinted off, running along the edge of the road. The others followed hastily, catching up and forming a vague mass, with her on the fringe. The road seemed to stretch on forever, even though she knew it was hardly a hundred yards. _These are the times I wish we didn't have white uniforms_, she thought.

After what felt like an eternity, they reached the grass outside the city. Hailey spun around and looked around for pursuers, breathing heavily. After several long moments, she convinced herself that they had gone unnoticed.

"All right," she said, turning back to the group. "To Rusturf Tunnel." They now walked slowly through the tall grass, trying to avoid nests of Pokemon that might make noise. They once narrowly avoided a pack of seven resting Zigzagoon.

Finally, they reached Rusturf Tunnel. It was a tunnel through a large mountainous area that was built to connect Rustboro more easily to Verdanturf Town, as beforehand, one had to either go around via a large desert, fields of ash, and even more expanses of land to reach it, or else go south to Slateport then sail around. Hailey led them through the cave entrance, going very quietly now, as Whismur and Loudred were known to live in the cave.

After some time going through the misty reaches of the cave, Hailey led the group through a side exit. With some difficulty, they climbed up to a cave in the mountain and went inside. Hailey retrieved sleeping bags from behind a boulder and distributed them. "Sleep fast," she said. "We're leaving at sunset."

Hailey went to the edge of the cave and turned on her communicator at last. After a few moments, Johnathan appeared onscreen in the Hoenn Command Center.

"Leader Hailey, we were wondering where you were!" he said breathlessly.

"Fine. Just tell me what is going on with the other two caves."

"The desert one seems to be untouched, as far as we know, and we dispatched a small platoon from Mauville to guard it; they arrived a few hours after the earthquake. They're waiting for you currently; the cave will not be entered until your arrival."

"Good. What of the other cave?"

Johnathan shifted nervously. "The government force got there first. They went inside with about a dozen trainers. We got there after they left, and it's ours now, but I don't know what they might have done."

Hailey clenched her jaw and took a deep breath. "And you have no idea of anything they may have taken with them?"

"None whatsoever."

"We'll reach Mauville tomorrow, and then we can pick up transportation and get to the desert cave after sleeping for a night. Make sure the Mauville base has a few hoverbikes ready to go."

"Leader?" asked Johnathan hesitantly.

"What?"

"What was in that cave? A lot of us are curious…"

"It will be apparent once I have completed operations. Keep our eyes in the sky on the government force that went in. I will contact you later."

"Good night, Leader."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: **

"Yes, I need a dozen hoverbikes. Is that so hard to understand?" Hailey was addressing the Blizzard Admin Maverick, a thirty-something man with a shaved head and green eyes.

"Leader, we were on short notice. We just don't have enough. All we have is ten. A patrol with four will return this evening."

"I DON'T HAVE THAT LONG!" she screamed. "I NEED TO BE AT THE DESERT BY THEN!"

"Well, I'm sorry, but there really aren't any more options…"

"I'll take the ten, then. Are they ready to go?"

"Yes."

"Good. I'll leave shortly. You can leave; bring in the team that arrived with me."

Maverick nodded and left the room. Hailey fell back into the comfortable chair at the end of the table in the conference room. The walls were solid steel and circuit boards were visible everywhere. After all, the base was made inside New Mauville, an underground sector under Mauville City proper. It had housed a generator, but the generator had gone haywire, and New Mauville was abandoned after the shutdown of the generator. Team Blizzard had acquired New Mauville and repaired the generator, then used it to power the new base.

The group of fourteen entered the room, clumping together at the opposite end of the table, looking awkward. They now had fresh clothes and had slept decently, and thus looked a lot more alert than before.

"Don't just stand there, fools, sit down." Hailey drummed her fingers impatiently on the table. The others looked at each other for a moment, then chose their seats along the table, looking up at Hailey at the end, waiting for her to speak again.

"We have ten hoverbikes available," she began, clasping her hands together and resting them on the table before her. "Unfortunately, there are fifteen of us. So now I am left with the decision of whom to take along.

"Obviously, I am a given, which leaves nine spots. Dr. Girot, you will not be accompanying us. You were useless in the main cavern and you were unneeded in the lair of Regice. You may leave." The scientist blinked, then nodded and got up, walking out of the room.

"Now the decision is more difficult. I think you will be useful, Nathan, you have decent leadership ability and could adequately lead a secondary force if a division was necessary. You join the group." Nathan nodded briefly and leaned back slightly in the chair.

"Hannah, you're a decent fighter. You can stay. Now, Robert…" Hailey went on, carefully considering who would make her cut and who wouldn't.

Finally, a group of nine sat before Hailey, watching her closely. She smirked slightly. "Well, there was a reason I picked you. Let's go, don't dawdle. I want to claim the next Golem as soon as possible. Meet me in the transport wing in half an hour." The group murmured their assent and left, leaving Hailey to stare at the wall thoughtfully, her hands clasped beneath her chin and her elbows on the table.

*********

Hailey was now in the large open space of the transport wing. She was wearing a new, crisp white Blizzard jacket, and dark grey pants with thick black steel-toed boots. Her long blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she had a silver helmet under her arm as she addressed the nine before her.

"For the last time, raise your hands if you're in Alpha Group," she said. Her own hand went into the air, along with Hannah, John, and three others.

"Now, Beta Group." Nathan and the other four raised their hands. "Good. Now, if we are attacked en route, I may give the order to split over the in-helmet communications unit. STAY WITH YOUR GROUP. There are no heroes, as I'm sure you know by now. I'll give you the remaining instructions at our destination. GET ON YOUR BIKES." Hailey thrust her helmet on, watching a Heads-Up Display appear on the visor surface for her benefit. She then mounted the sleek silver hoverbike. It was about seven feet long, and had two large wheels and was currently standing on them. In the front, the nose of the vehicle concealed a pulse laser that could take out any enemy vehicle if focused on it for a few short moments.

"Is everyone ready?" she asked, her voice reaching all the others through the intercom. A vague affirmative answer from each came back to her. "Let's go," she said, flipping the mag-levitation lever. A short antigravity boost shot her up about a foot into the air, allowing the tires to rotate ninety degrees so that the metal parts faced the ground. This caused the bike to hover.

Hailey watched as the security hatch to the bay opened slowly, letting bright daylight flood the artificially lit transport wing. The moment it stopped, she threw the throttle all the way forward, causing the engine of the bike to kick in, thrusting her forward at a rapidly accelerating pace. The HUD inside her helmet showed the others not far behind. She eased the throttle slightly, allowing them to catch up before they entered Mauville City.

Hailey dived down closer to the ground, to attract less attention. There was surprisingly little traffic into Mauville, so she decided to go ahead and take the normal streets. The group decelerated slightly, then sped through the city, dodging occasional cars; the scenery was a blur around them.

In minutes, they were on the open road again, heading northward. It was flat grassland for the most part, though there were tall mountains of reddish granite on either side, as well as scattered trees and suburban homes. The sky was a clear blue, with not a single cloud to scar its pristine beauty.

"UP!" Hailey cried, leading the group over a wall of boulders. Trainers usually would use strong Pokemon to break said boulders, but Hailey didn't exactly know how sturdy the hoverbikes were, and didn't want to find out the hard way.

Soon, Hailey led the group left, turning into the desert. Sand stretched over the earth across a great distance, through mountains ringed the horizon. A virulent sandstorm filled the Desert Gorge; the sand whipped up in the seemingly random gusts would be immensely painful. However, Hailey and the others were wearing full-body suits.

Hailey now scanned the long-range radar, which could detect things about 3 feet tall for a mile radius. A few things showed up, but they were not moving; from this she deduced that they were just rocks. "I'm uploading the coordinates to you now," Hailey told the others, causing the data to be uploaded to their helmets.

They went on, soaring over the desert sands. The hours ticked by, the sun slowly falling in the sky. The journey was quite uninteresting, in Hailey's opinion; mile after mile, all that could be seen was vast expanses of sand and a few boulders. She was patient, however; Legendary Pokemon would not be acquired without some sort of perseverance.

Finally, the cave appeared on the radar, and she alerted the others. They began decelerating again, the blur of the surroundings lessening. At long last, they pulled up by the great cavern rock. A fairly large tent was pitched outside the entrance.

Hailey powered down her vehicle and dismounted, going straight into the tent without waiting for the others. Inside were five Blizzard members playing cards in a circle, looking fairly cheerful. The sound of the tent unzipping had caused them to look up, however. Hailey relished the look of rapidly draining merriment on their faces as they began to understand who had entered.

"Get a grip," she said, pulling back the visor to her helmet and suppressing laughter. "I'm not angry with you for passing the time, though I would have preferred it if one of you was actually _watching_ the cave…"

"We have someone right inside, Leader-" began one of the agents.

"Whatever," Hailey interrupted. "Just get goggles and get ready to go into the cave. Bring strong Pokemon and any spare Pokeballs. Make sure you have in-ear com units."

The five saluted briefly and fumbled in supply packs, pulling out protective goggles and belts of Pokemon, slinging packs full of various Pokeballs over their shoulders and putting on more protective jackets and gloves. They also put on small earpieces that would connect with the frequency of Hailey's helmet. She lowered the visor again and stepped outside, back into the whirling sands.

Hailey paced beside the cave entrance, anxious to begin. She wanted to know if they were to be up against Regirock or Registeel. In addition, she was wary of losing too much time; every moment they delayed was another moment the Pokemon of Route 120 had to be locked in a government vault.

Just as she was about to reenter the tent and yell at them, the five exited the tent, ready to go. Hailey acknowledged them with a curt nod and motioned for the ones that came with her to follow. They stepped into the cavern and out of the sand.

It was a long tunnel sloping downward, identical to the ones in the other caves. Hailey continued on, looking everywhere for signs of Registeel; she reasoned that Regirock would not make the cavern look different. The journey was very quiet, because of the noise-blocking helmets.

At last, they reached the large middle room Hailey now called the Antechamber. She noticed that her boots sunk into the floor slightly; there was a small layer of sand. Glancing around, she saw what looked like a line of footprints through the center of the room, and set coming back. She frowned but made no comment.

"One of you, stay here," she said through the audio connection. She saw one of the five from the tent stop at the end of the tunnel and turn around, facing the entrance. "Good. The rest of us, keep going." They trudged across the room and entered the second tunnel.

Hailey noticed that sand from the room had flowed down the tunnel, again showing a line of footprints there and back. A single bead of sweat flowed down from her forehead, dripping off the end of her delicate nose. She blinked, took a breath, and kept on going.

The further they went down, the more sand there was. There were some indents in the tunnel wall, filled with sand. _It's got to be Regirock,_ she thought, already calculating strategy. _Empoleon can go out first, then I'll probably use the Roserade I brought…along with the others' Pokemon, they should be able to wear it down…_

"Hailey?" Nathan's voice ventured in her ear. She blinked and shook her head; they had arrived in the chamber, and she had been too engrossed in her thoughts to notice. There was just one problem with the scene before her, with her legs almost knee-deep in sand.

There was nothing _but_ sand.

"Leader?" asked Nathan again, more nervously.

"There's nothing here," Hailey breathed, shocked and angry. "Where is it? I thought no one had gone in here." Her temper was rising; only deep breaths kept in yells of rage.

"Should we leave?" Hannah asked nervously.

"I suppose," Hailey growled. "I'll need to have a word with Jonathan. His claim of no one entering this place will cost him. But we need to get out of here, fast; we don't have any time to lose. This person is both more and less threatening than the government. More because they'll be harder to track, but less because he'll have fewer resources. Either way, WE NEED TO GO. MOVE!" She lifted her legs out of the sand and reentered the tunnel, running up through the sand, which shifted under her step.

***** 

"JONATHAN!" Hailey roared, in a video conference with him back in the tent.

"What, Leader?" he asked worriedly. He looked like he had haphazardly put on his Blizzard jacket and Executive badge, a gleaming golden E pinned to the left side of his chest.

"THERE HAD BEEN SOMEONE IN THE DAMN CAVE!"

Jonathan visibly swallowed, and glanced away from the screen. "Is that so…are you sure?"

"YES, I'M PRETTY FUCKING SURE, JONATHAN, DO YOU THINK I WOULD BE YELLING IF I WASN'T, DUMBASS?"

"Well…yes, of course…but…how do you know?"

"BECAUSE THE GODDAMN LEGENDARY POKEMON THAT _SHOULD_ HAVE BEEN IN THAT CAVE WAS GONE, AND FOOTPRINTS WERE ALL OVER THE PLACE!"

"Well…I'm very sorry we didn't pick it up…"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU?"

"We didn't actually get a visual on the cave for about an hour after the earthquake," he explained quickly. "If there was someone nearby, they could have gone in and captured it before our satellites began surveillance."

Hailey took a deep breath, thinking fast. "Then they must have been around here," she said, more to herself than Jonathan. "Investigate this area, find out if anyone lives around here."

"Yes, Hailey," Jonathan replied, sitting down and typing something into a terminal. There were a few moments of silence, then he turned back to Hailey. "No one officially, but some eccentric rich man supposedly lives there periodically, in a cave in the nearby mountains."

"That would seem to be a possibility of our intruder," Hailey mused. "All right, Jonathan. Keep watch over the desert area. Track anyone leaving it. Send me the coordinates of his supposed location. We're going."

"Keep well, Hailey," said Jonathan, nodding his head as Hailey terminated the link. Within moments, a small map appeared on her communicator. She pressed a button to upload the information to her helmet. When the upload bar filled up on the communicator, she turned back to the others.

"Well, you were listening. Let's go!"

******

The Blizzard members who had already been guarding the cave stayed behind, to pursue the man if he fled. Hailey brought the rest with her on hoverbikes; they reached the outside of the cave in minutes. The night was silent and still; a new moon hung in the sky.

"Park inside the cave, it's big enough," she told them over the helmet network. They floated into the huge, dark opening, letting down their transports gracefully. Hailey turned on her helmet's floodlight, indicating for the others to do the same, which filled the cave with bright white light.

"There should be a door somewhere," she said, activating the X-ray feature in her helmet. Looking around the cavern, she saw one expanse of stone with solid metal behind it. "I think I see it," she continued. "Follow."

They advanced slowly towards the spot, hands on Pokeballs, ready to fight at a moment's notice. The wall was just like the rest of the cave; smooth red granite. It appeared to be seamless. Hailey had to admit she was impressed; without her advanced equipment she would have been helpless.

"Do we knock?" inquired Robert.

"No, idiot, that gives them the chance to run if they need to," Hailey snapped at him. "We break the door itself. Who's got a very physically powerful Pokemon?" She turned to the others.

"I've got a Rampardos," Nathan put in.

"That'll be fine," Hailey answered. "Just hurry."

Nathan simply nodded and tossed a Pokeball. There was a burst of light, revealing Rampardos, a Pokemon about five feet tall, with a dark grey body made of stone, and a large, armored head with thick spikes. There were rings of blue on various areas of its body. Nathan opened up the visor of his helmet.

"Smash the wall, right there," he said tonelessly, pointing to the hidden door way. "Stay back," he added to the others. They didn't argue, stepping backwards neatly.

Rampardos went to the opposite end of the cave and lowered its head, waiting for a moment before charging at a great pace, its head pointed forward. With a sound similar to a train wreck, its iron-hard skull ripped through the stone and steel, ripping the door out of the wall and leaving a sizeable entrance. A stone hallway, illuminated by lamps on the walls, extended before them.

"Inside," Hailey barked over the radio, walking purposefully into the hall, the others close behind her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six:**

Hailey had a Pokeball in hand, walking down the hallways. Her eyes darted around nervously; she was sure the man would ambush them, and the helmet radar didn't work very well in cramped quarters like this. "Stay on the lookout," she breathed over the connection.

At the end of the hallway, there was a large hole opening up into a large room. Hailey stopped by its edge and looked around. It seemed to be a large living room; there was a comfortable couch near the center facing a wall that held a large video screen. A warm-looking kitchen was visible on the opposite side of the room.

"Move in," ordered Hailey, creeping into the room silently. "Undo your visors so you can hear." Her own visor slid up into the helmet. She strained her ears for any noise, but heard nothing other than the gurgling of a pipe in a wall somewhere.

"Looks like there's nothing in here," Hailey observed. "Let's split up and search. Nathan, you lead a group right, and-"

"Get out of my house," said a voice off to Hailey's right, gruff and angry. She whirled around to see a rather fat man with thick grey hair in a bathrobe. The Alakazam at his side made him more intimidating, however. The Pokemon was the size of a child, but it had a very angular head, with a wide top tapering down to a narrow chin. Its body was a pale yellow, with brown over thicker parts of its body, like armor. Two spoons rested loosely in its hands, which had three fingers with long, sharp nails.

"Did you go into a cave in the desert recently?" Hailey demanded, her hands clutching a Pokeball tightly.

"That's not the issue here," said the man. "You've broken down my door and entered my home. Leave now, before I call the police."

"The police aren't getting here any time soon," Hailey pointed out. "Now you can tell me whether you captured a Pokemon in that cave, or we can do this the hard way."

"I can fight you off if necessary. Houdini here isn't my only Pokemon," he said, indicating the Alakazam.

Hailey frowned and let out her Froslass, which hung in the air by her head, leering down at the Alakazam. "Did you go into that cave?" she repeated, with more force behind the words.

"Yes, I did. And what's the problem?"

"Did you capture the Pokemon inside?" Hailey's hand was already resting on another Pokeball.

"The big rock guy? Yeah, but I don't know what the hell he is."

"He's crucial to our research. I must request you hand him over."

"He must be rare, then," mused the man, raising an eyebrow thoughtfully.

"Yes," answered Hailey impatiently. "Now hand him over."

"No," the man replied simply.

"_What did you say_?" Hailey asked with a biting tone.

"I caught it, it's mine by right. I'll sell it to you, though, if you wish. Of course, the break-in will drive up the price…"

"Do not even consider extortion," spat Hailey. "It will cause you bodily harm. What would your price be, though, if you were to offer the Pokemon?"

He scratched his unshaven chin, thinking. "Five million dollars," he said, staring evenly at Hailey. "It's probably one-of-a-kind, and I'm being generous. Five millions dollars, and you get the Pokemon along with a promise from me not to press charges."

"I'll pay four million," Hailey said after a moment's consideration.. "Maximum."

"Well, too bad. I'm not going any lower than five."

"Yes you are, or you'll be paying us to take it off your hands. Preferably with your life."

"Was that a death threat?"

"I suppose it was," Hailey said. The other Blizzard members were starting to spread out within the room. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Respond," he said simply. "Houdini, use Psychic on anyone you can!" Alakazam looked directly at Robert, who was covered in a dark blue aura and thrown against the stone wall with a sickening crunch. He landed in a heap on the floor and did not move.

"Use Shadow Ball, Froslass!" Hailey cried, running away from the man and his Alakazam and pulling out a second Pokeball. "Glaceon, go!" The icy Pokemon appeared and stood between Hailey and the man.

"Houdini, use Focus Blast!" he yelled, pointing at Glaceon. A ball of focused blue energy shot at Glaceon, who was standing with its fur frozen into needles.

"Dodge it!" Hailey screeched, turning to address the others. "DO SOMETHING!"

They sent out various Pokemon; Hailey saw a Glalie, Sealo, Weavile, and Drapion, among others. Nathan had the Drapion and was fiercely giving orders. "Drapion, let out Toxic Spikes around them!" he yelled.

"WHERE IS REGIROCK?" thundered Hailey, Glaceon glaring threateningly.

"In my PC Box," the man said, smirking. "Unfortunately for you, my account needs my fingerprint for access…"

"SEIZE HIM!" she screamed wildly, pointing at the man.

"Too late!" he roared, laughing over the pandemonium in the room and putting a hand on his Alakazam's shoulder. "Teleport, Houdini!" The Pokemon closed its eyes for a brief moment before blinking out of existence.

Absolute silence filled the room. The Pokemon all stopped comically mid-attack, but no one laughed. Everyone's attention was on Hailey. She blinked, her mind racing. He could be anywhere, and Regirock wasn't on his person anyway.

At least in theory.

"He may have been lying," Hailey announced, looking around the room. "Regirock may not be in his Box. Search the house. I'm going back, to get in contact with base. Get Robert's body; we'll have to bring him back to base and cremate him."

The other Blizzard members nodded and started looking in drawers and under furniture, while a few others picked up Robert's lifeless form. Hailey waited for a moment before walking out the way she came.

******

"So his name is Frank _Earlson_?" Hailey inquired, speaking to Jonathan over video chat back at the Mauville base. Nathan was standing at attention near the door in the room with Hailey.

"Yep. The heir of the man who invented TM's. He's damn rich, Hailey."

"Stop being casual. Besides, it's not like a poor person would have had that house. Can we break into his Pokemon storage Box?"

"I don't think so, not from outside the system. We'd have to hold Lanette hostage or something."

"That can be done…but it can wait. Just keep your eye on our friend Frank. Where is the government force now? That's the more pressing issue."

"They dropped off their cargo at the Lilycove research facility, back in the old Aqua base."

"Should be simple enough to infiltrate, as long as our spies help us…we do have the blueprints to the place from Team Aqua…hopefully the government hasn't renovated the place too much." she paused. "Can you reserve two plane tickets to Lilycove?"

"Yes, Leader. From Mauville, I assume?"

"Of course. The screen you're looking at displays our location, idiot."

"Just making sure. First, second, or third class?"

"Second. I'd rather not draw attention, but I want some comfort."

Jonathan tapped a few keys at his computer. "Done. Your flight leaves at 13:37. That should give you ample time."

"Good. We have five hours. Time for sleep. Send us a skilled agent to meet us at the airport."

"Affirmative. We've got six Elites here currently. I'll send you Kilian."

"He'll be fine. Just make sure he's there. Goodbye." She ended the link.

"So, we get some sleep now?" asked Nathan.

"Just three and a half hours or so. We'll have to sleep at the airport, though; I'm NOT missing that flight."

"Okay. Should I put my Pokemon in the PC so I can retrieve them at Lilycove?"

"Of course. Keep something concealed for the plane, though. Just in case."

"Easy enough."

*******

"Flight 42 to Lilycove leaves in 15 minutes. Last call for Flight 42 to Lilycove." The bored-sounding voice sounded over the loudspeaker in the crowded, modern airport.

"Dammit, Nathan, WHY didn't you turn your alarm on? It's a good thing I set a backup, otherwise we'd definitely miss our flight…I don't know why I bother with you…now hurry..." Hailey and Nathan were running through the throngs of people in the airport, trying to reach the gate before it closed, in roughly five minutes.

"If we miss this, I swear, Nathan, I'll-"

"We're here," Nathan pointed out, slowing down as they reached the gate. He fumbled in his jacket for the tickets. They were wearing everyday clothes; Hailey was wearing tight-fitting black jeans and a white tank top, with her hair let down for once. She was wearing heavy makeup to help disguise her, along with colored contact lenses which turned her eyes electric-blue.

"There," Nathan said, giving the pair of tickets to the woman at the gate. She scanned them, ripped off the ends and handed them back, allowing Hailey and Nathan to walk onto the plane.

It was a relatively small aircraft, with two seats on each side. Hailey didn't like boarding so late, as everyone's eyes fell on them as they walked back to their second-class seats.

"Seats 11A and 12C," Nathan said, looking at the labels along the edge of the overhead compartments.

Hailey wasn't paying attention. She was giving everyone she passed a quick glance, making sure there was no one threatening. So far, she had seen fat businesspeople in first class, and mostly tourists in second. Suddenly, she paused. One man in Row 9 had met her gaze and was staring back without any real emotion in his eyes.

Hailey felt a cold chill go down her spine. There was no doubt who it was, but how was it possible…? The bearded man clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes. Hailey blinked and went on to her seat behind Nathan. The encounter had put her on edge. She fell resolutely into the seat and buckled the seat belt, staring at the headrest in front of her.

"What?" asked Nathan quizzically, looking back.

"Not now," she breathed. "Later." She glanced at the person beside her. He looked to be about her age, perhaps slightly younger. He had dark hair and sea-green eyes, and was looking at her with something beyond an ordinary glance.

_Damn these low-cut tank tops_, she thought angrily. She was so often wrapped in thick jackets and surrounded by underlings that she forgot about her slim figure attracting attention. Or rather, the upper area of said figure, which was not quite as slim. The problem was, normally, Hailey could simply order the gawking person to stop, or else punish them. She had forgotten how to act outside of situations where she was in control.

"Hi," she said awkwardly, shifting uncomfortably.

"Hi," the teenager replied. "I'm Neal. What's your name?"

Hailey hesitated for a brief second, then took a chance. "Hailey," she answered. _No one's going to recognize me in clothes like this, or wearing all this makeup_, she reasoned.

"Are you a Trainer?" Neal inquired.

"Yes," Hailey said. "Are you?"

"Yeah. I've got seven badges," he told her, puffing his chest out proudly. _Oh, crap_, thought Hailey. _The horny bastard's full of himself too. I'll take him down a notch._

"Cool," she said with a ghost of a smile. "I've beaten the Elite Four." _I love when I don't even have to lie to intimidate people,_ she thought.

"Wow," Neal said, impressed. "How come I've never heard of you?"

"Well, I lost in the actual Championship tournament, and in an early round," she explained. "And it was almost three years ago, as well as in Sinnoh."

"Ah. Damn," he acknowledged. "I've been training for three years and I've still not gotten all eight badges to qualify for the Hoenn League Challenge. I might make it this year and manage to beat the Elite Four in time for the Championship Tournament, but we'll see…"

Hailey almost answered him, but the plane shot forward at great speed, pushing her back into her seat. After the pleasant voice of the attendant announced that they had reached cruising altitude, Hailey undid her seatbelt and went into the bathroom.

The room was cramped; even for someone as skinny as Hailey, it was uncomfortable. On top of that, it smelled as if it hadn't been cleaned in months. Wrinkling her nose, she activated her wrist communicator, sending a quick message to Nathan. _I think I saw Todd when we came in_, she wrote. _He's on row 9. I don't know how it's him, but I'm almost positive it is. I don't know if he recognized me. Don't attract attention. ~Hailey _

Nathan turned around and looked at her, looking worried. She mouthed _Later_, and sat back down next to Neal.

"So, how'd you lose in the tournament? If you don't my asking."

Hailey looked at him, slightly less tolerating of him than before. "Cynthia was my opponent in the second round," she told him. "It was a close one, though. Her Lucario was the only Pokemon left; it barely beat my Glaceon."

"Ooohhh, I remember that match, actually," Neal responded eagerly. "I watched it in a Pokemon Center in. Everyone was going crazy; it was almost the earliest loss of an incumbent Champion in over a decade. You look way different."

"I certainly hope so," she told him sincerely. "Anyways, times change. I don't train so much anymore."

"Yeah…why are you going to Lilycove?"

"Seeing a Contest," she replied unflinchingly. The cover story was decided on before reaching the airport. "I might check out the art museum, too."

"All right," he said. An awkward silence followed inexplicably, and Neal turned and looked out the window for the remainder of the trip. Meanwhile, Hailey checked up on the surveillance of Frank Earlson. Apparently, he had gone to his mansion in Mossdeep after catching a quick flight from Fallarbor.

More quickly than Hailey would have thought, the plane hit the ground, sliding to a neat stop on the runway and rolling into the gate. Hailey got up quickly once hey were allowed and went to Nathan. "Stay a decent ways behind me until we get out of the airport," she whispered to him. "If that really is Todd, we can't take chances. I don't know if he recognized me, but he probably will if he sees you too. I'll meet you outside the Cove Lily Motel; do you know where that is?"

"Yes," Nathan hissed back. "My family lived in Lilycove for about a year when I was eleven or so. I'll see you there. In the meantime, I'll watch Todd. You should get out first, and lose yourself in the crowd so he doesn't notice you."

"Don't give me orders," Hailey said reprovingly. "I'm in charge. Either way, sounds like a plan. I'll go." They nodded briefly at each other, and then Hailey left, subtly fighting through the mass of people both on the plane and milling around outside the gate. She was much more alert than her lazy stride and slouching posture would suggest; Todd could be anywhere. Paranoia striking her, she chanced a glance over her shoulder. To her distress, Todd- or at least the man very much like Todd- was very close behind her, talking animatedly with a middle-aged matronly woman who had two small children at her side. Unfortunately, Todd glanced away from the lady and met Hailey's gaze once more, his eyes narrowing just as they had previously. Hailey hastily tore her eyes away and kept walking, this time with more erect posture.

No matter how much she thought about it, there was nothing she knew of that would have allowed Todd to escape all that ice. _He should have died of hypothermia in half an hour or so. There was no way he could have broken through the ice. So how the _hell_ could he have gotten out?_ Her mind gave no answers.

Another glance over her shoulder revealed that Todd was still behind her, though a ways back. _Just a coincidence_, she told herself. After all, she was just exiting the airport from the front door. She continued on, trying to get to the motel as quickly as possible. By instinct, she reached for a Pokeball. Empty space was all that met her fingertips. Damn, she thought. I had to leave them in the box, and I don't have time to go to a Pokemon Center…

Her pace quickened again as she briskly walked down the sidewalks. A strong desire to look behind herself again was building, but she held it in check. She didn't want to seem so suspicious. Spotting an alley, she darted to her right, hoping she'd lose Todd if he was still pursuing. 

Hailey broke into a light jog as she went down the dark, smelly, unused alley. There was nothing but high walls of masonry on either side, rising up at least ten stories. No windows broke the hard, unforgiving façade. No sunlight fell into the shadows of the old residential buildings.

Silence, too, filled the alley, unlike anywhere else in the city she had been so far. Her swift footsteps echoed loud and clear between the stone walls. The eerie feeling now spreading from her head down to her toes caused her to speed up yet again. Now she was sprinting full-out. She saw a large, green dumpster and got behind it, trying to slow her breathing rate. Once she had calmed herself down, she peeked around the edge of the rusty dumpster.

Todd was walking steadily down the alley. While he was too far away to determine any facial expression, Hailey knew he could not have good intentions, especially if he knew who she was.

_All right_, she thought, concealing herself again. _Don't panic. I have more grit than that. Now I need backup_. She pulled out her communicator and started typing a message to Nathan.

_In an alley, Todd still following. Find me. ~Hailey_

Stowing the communicator again, Hailey crushed herself against the filthy dumpster, taking up as little space as possible. She could barely stand the knowledge of what she was leaning against, but currently she was more worried about the burly man coming down the alley. After all, she had been fairly sure she had killed him.

Slow, deliberate footsteps were now the only thing breaking the silence of the narrow street. Ever closer they sounded. Hailey's heart was pounding with incredible force against her ribs. She felt sure that it was making enough noise to alert Todd to her position. All she could do now was wait. 

The footsteps slowed into a stop, or else they were silent. They had sounded incredibly close before the sound disappeared. Hailey hardly dared breathe. Blood pounded around her ears. The sound consumed everything. Conscious thought was barely happening. All she knew was anticipation and fear.

Todd stepped around the dumpster and looked her straight in the face. For a moment, they did nothing but stare at each other. Hailey looked into his eyes and saw no fear, only determination and rage.

"What an exciting reunion," Todd said, emotionless.


End file.
